Chapter 257: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord's Castle
Chapter 257: Crying Out Love in the Center of the Lord's Castle
The moment I hugged Rachel, a sudden chill washed over my entire body.
And I don't mean that figuratively. It was literal.
“Ra-Rachel. The temperature magic…”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Rachel gave a light wave of her hand, and I immediately felt the surrounding chill disappear.
It seemed the sudden event had momentarily broken her spell.
In any case, I moved Rachel behind me and looked forward again. Thanks to the closer distance, I could see the face of the creature that had swung the spear in more detail.
They were what you’d call Lizardmen, their bodies covered in scales and their faces reptilian.
And seeing that there wasn't just one, but three of them, I got the gist of it.
So these guys are the Goblin or Orc equivalent for the 3rd Floor.
In other words, they probably weren't very strong monsters. Just looking at them, they seemed incomparably weaker than the Ice Golem.
Slice.
See? They're weak. Or wait, is Rachel just that strong?
A sharp gust of wind shot from behind me, sent by Rachel, and blew the head clean off one of the Lizardmen.
So the Ice Golem really was just a matter of a bad matchup.
Before I even had a chance to draw their aggro, the other two met a similarly anticlimactic end as their heads were sent flying.
“Th-Then let’s go, quickly! You can dig this way!”
As soon as the Lizardmen fell, I looked at the map, pointed in a direction, and spoke urgently.
Rachel had immediately recast the magic that blocked the cold, but my body still wasn't back to normal.
Her magic didn't make you warm; it just kept you from feeling cold.
But it couldn't completely eliminate the chill that had seeped into my body when the spell broke.
The parts of my body covered in leather armor were fine, but my hands and feet, clad in steel, were unbelievably cold. Of course, my gauntlets and boots were lined with leather, but it wasn't enough to completely block the chilling touch of the metal.
“Hm? Why so suddenly… Ah, I’m sorry.”
Seeing my expression, Rachel seemed to understand the situation. She suddenly pulled my hands and pressed them tightly against her ample chest.
I could feel the warmth of her body melting the chill from my gauntlets.
“R-Rachel?! But then, won't you be cold…?!”
“Oh my, are you worried about me even now? It was my mistake, after all. This much is fine. Thank you for your help, Guwon. You were a little cool back there.”
“Ah, no. It was nothing.”
“Huhu. You're an adventurer who travels with such beautiful women, Mr. Guwon, yet you still have such a fresh reaction.”
“W-Well… anyone would, if it was you, Rachel…”
“Oh my, are you trying to seduce me? You can't. I'd hate to get scolded by Lady Diana. Ah, and what I'm doing for you now is a secret from the others, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Rachel held my hands like that for a moment longer, then let go as if nothing had happened and pointed to where I had indicated before.
“Should I dig this way?”
“Y-Yes.”
To be honest, my gauntlets blocked any sensation, so I couldn't feel the softness of her chest at all, but for some reason, I still found it awkward to look at her face.
Perhaps Rachel also felt she'd done something unnecessary, as she didn't turn her head toward me once and silently took the lead, digging through the snow.
“Guwon!” “Mr. Guwon!” “Guwon-nim!”
The moment we returned to where Sara, Leia, and Silvia were, all three of them rushed toward me at once.
“What happened? The snow suddenly collapsed, we were so worried.” “Are you alright?”
Sara approached as if she was about to grab me by the collar, her face etched with worry, while Leia, her hands glowing with healing magic, touched me all over.
Even Silvia pressed right up against me, peering at my face.
“I'm fine. An Ice Golem just showed up out of nowhere, so it collapsed for a moment. We took care of it easily.”
“You're really not hurt?”
“Of course not. Your usual punches hurt more than a monster like that…” “Idiot!”
As I spoke playfully, Sara seemed to relax. With a prim expression, she slapped my chest.
Keuk. Right. This hurts more. Why does the damage get through my armor? Is this the power of love?
Anyway, my nonchalant act seemed to put everyone at ease.
They finally backed away a little, their expressions relieved.
Mm. Being loved really is a wonderful feeling.
“By the way, Silvia. Looks like you're starting to overcome your shyness, huh? Clinging to me like that.”
“Wh-?! Ah, eek?! N-No?! I-I'm sorry!”
“No, don't be sorry. I don't mind. In fact, why are you moving away? Come on, get closer. Let's see the results of your special training…” “Hyaaaaaaah!”
As I grabbed Silvia's head and tried to pull her into an embrace, she let out a cute shriek and instantly scurried behind Sara.
Why Sara of all people? Did she instinctively know who could deal damage to me?
“Guwon. I told you to stop teasing Silvia.”
“I wasn't really teasing her… I'm sorry.”
Silvia. Just you wait until we're back at the mansion.
I'll show you a three-hour course of hell—no, heaven—filled with rubbing and snuggling.
In any case, after safely confirming what the 3rd Floor looked like, we returned to the Queen Ant's chamber where Diana was.
“Diana. How's it going? Making good progress?”
“Hm? You've returned. No. It's not a matter of 'good progress'; I'm still in the initial stages. For now, I'm analyzing the flow of mana extending from the Magic Stone. It will likely take several days to complete the analysis.”
“So we'll have to stay here for a while?”
“Mm. If you're bored, you can go out and hunt. Using this chamber as a base should allow for safe hunting, wouldn't you agree?”
She had a point.
The only problem was that, unlike before, I didn't really have a reason to raise my Martial Artist level anymore.
“Ah, in that case, I think I'll head back to the Guild first.”
Rachel spoke up then, as if she'd been waiting for the right moment.
“What? By yourself?”
“Yes. I'm more than enough to handle the monsters here on my own.”
“Still, traveling through the dungeon alone… We'll escort you. Diana, is that alright?”
“Mm. Of course.”
“But you really don't have to…”
“We were going to go hunting anyway since we have nothing else to do. Making a round trip to the town at the same time isn't a bad idea.”
Rachel had an apologetic look on her face, but I spoke in a way to put her at ease.
Maybe because of what happened earlier, but whenever she made that face, the memory of that moment would come flooding back.
So, just like before, Sara, Leia, Silvia, and I ended up making the trip to the town on the 2nd Floor, but nothing particularly eventful happened.
Especially on the way there, Rachel went on such a rampage that we, who were just tagging along, felt almost embarrassed.
When we arrived in town, Rachel turned to us and gave us a smile that seemed more genuine than her usual professional one.
“Well, I suppose we part ways here. Thank you all so much.”
“Not at all. We didn't do anything but follow you.”
We really hadn't done a thing. In fact, I wondered if Rachel had found us to be a nuisance, just slowing her down.
But Rachel shook her head at my words.
“No. I mean for everything, not just now.”
As she said that, she gave me a subtle wink from an angle the others couldn't see.
Rachel. If you're going to say I can't seduce you, then you shouldn't do things like that to me. You're making my heart flutter for no reason.
“Well then, everyone. I'll see you next time.”
Rachel bowed her head once more in farewell, then vanished toward the teleportation magic circle.
“Well, that's one thing taken care of.”
“It is. Now we just have to wait for Diana's research to be finished.”
Right. And by the time Diana's research is done and we come back up here, the Guild will have made a major announcement about the information I gave them, and it will have spread far and wide among the adventurers.
If so, the sight of adventurers trying to get an erection in front of monsters… Kukukuk, kh, ahem. No. It's not like I'm having any weird thoughts, okay? I'm just curious how they're going to do it.
That's right. For me, it's just my girls.
I may not look it, but I'm the kind of guy who can get into a strange mood with someone like Rachel and just let it go.
Anyway, we returned to the ant nest where Diana was waiting.
And for the next few days, while Diana conducted her research, we used the Queen Ant's chamber as a base and continued to exterminate ants.
The ant chambers spread out countless ways beyond the path we had taken, making it possible to hunt endlessly.
No wonder the ants replenished so quickly even after we'd culled so many.
While we were hunting, Diana and the people from the Mage Association stayed up all night, poring over the Magic Stone and investigating something.
“Hrmmm…”
“What's wrong? Is the research not going well?”
Even while eating, Diana let out a low groan, her face showing that something wasn't working out.
This was the first time I'd seen such an expression on her face. I wanted to help, but it was all the more frustrating that there was absolutely nothing I could do.
That damn Magic Stone. Making my woman wear an expression like that.
“No. It's not that it's not going well… In fact, the research itself has progressed quite nicely. I've actually learned a great deal. The problem is that the more I learn, the more absurd the conclusion becomes.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“As expected, this Magic Stone appears to be one of the core nuclei that form the dungeon. It doesn't just form the framework of the dungeon; its energy also seems to influence the dungeon's climate and the monsters that live here. However. The problem is that it feels… artificial.”
“Huh? Why is that a problem? What's wrong with it?”
“Think about it carefully. To say that this object was artificially manipulated is to say that someone created this dungeon itself. This vast dungeon, whose end is nowhere in sight, home to hundreds, even thousands of different monster species. Such a feat is something that even I, the one called the world's greatest mage, could not even dream of. No. I don't mean to be arrogant, but I have never met a mage more skilled than myself. Then who in the world could have artificially created such a dungeon? Unless it was the Goddess herself…”
As she spoke, she seemed to get more and more worked up, passionately arguing with a look of disbelief on her face.
But it was her last, casually uttered words that stuck with me.
“What if the Goddess really did create this dungeon?”
“Well. That's difficult to believe. The Goddess is the being who created everything in this world. If she created this dungeon, for what purpose would she have made this place and the monsters within it? Wouldn't it be more natural to place these monsters in ecosystems around the world that suit them, like other living creatures?”
She had a point there, too.
And though it felt strange to contradict my own suggestion, I had another piece of counter-evidence that Diana didn't know about.
I was already operating under the assumption that the Goddess sent me here to clear the dungeon.
If the Goddess was the one who made this dungeon, there would be no reason for her to send someone from another world to clear something she herself created.
Unless she thought of it as some kind of sick entertainment.
…That can't be it, right? Of course not. She's the Goddess who gave me these great abilities and created this beautiful world.
There's no way she'd do something so twisted.
But if that's the case, then why are the mechanics of this dungeon the same as the games I used to play in my original world…?
Kigigigik.
Just then, a strange sound came from the distance.
“Huh? What's that sound?”
“O-Over there!”
Sara, with her sharp hearing, pointed toward the source of the noise.
She was pointing right where Diana was researching the Magic Stone.
And in front of that massive Magic Stone, a huge lump was visible.
The lump gradually grew in size and began to take on a distinct shape.
Yes. The shape of the Queen Ant we had seen before.
“What?! Everyone, be care—!”
I threw down my utensils, shot up from my seat, and shouted.
Kwaaaaaang!
But the moment the Queen Ant was born, it was annihilated without a trace.
Right. The Elder Sisters were here.
“Hm. Don't tell me that Magic Stone can even create the Layer Boss. How interesting.”
Diana muttered in a nonchalant, carefree voice.
…Hey. Ignoring me like that just makes it more embarrassing for me.
“Guwon. Just sit down.”
“…Yeah.”
I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Even though I was already in an ant nest buried underground.